About NOLA Tours
Most visitors walk through the French Quarter and see old buildings. Beautiful, sure, but they’re missing the stories. The roofline on a Creole Cottage kicks out at a different angle than anything else on the block, and there’s a reason for that. The ironwork on one balcony was cast in a mold; the one next door was hammered by hand. Every block has something to say.
Katrina Horning figured that out after moving to New Orleans in 2004 and studying historic preservation at Tulane. She’d been guiding for a few years when it clicked: she wasn’t just telling the history of a neighborhood, she was letting the buildings tell their own stories. They are all special. From the tiny Creole Cottages in the French Quarter to the grand 1850s mansions Uptown. Even a block of seemingly ordinary ranch homes in the Garden District has a tale to tell. She wanted to let them take center stage.
NOLA Tours started in 2014 with one tour and one guide. Today we run architecture walks through the French Quarter, the Garden District, and the Marigny, and our guides will teach you to read the buildings for yourself. With any luck, some of it sticks with you so you can decipher buildings wherever you roam.
Preservation Partners
We’re proud partners of the Preservation Resource Center and the New Orleans Architecture Foundation. We share a mission: education is how you save a city’s built heritage.
The PRC hosts the annual Holiday Home Show, where you can walk through some of the city’s most beautifully restored private homes. Become a PRC member for access to exclusive events and their magazine, Preservation in Print. NOAF runs monthly tours, keynotes, and annual events that go deep into the architecture and design of the city.
Tell them NOLA Tours sent you.